Ganondorf growled and scuffled slightly as the Temple Priestess rubbed a sharp-smelling paste into yet another one of his infected wounds, hearing the hiss of the chemical compound meeting the clotted mess.

"Hold still, my Lord," the priestess said softly, washing it out sparingly with water and then applying the cream again. She wrapped a cloth bandage around it and then started on the next one. "You are lucky the poison has not spread into your blood. Once it stars spreading the infection throughout your body, only the Goddesses themselves can save you."

He gritted his teeth, both out of pain and impatience. He had warned his guards of the impending invasion even as he galloped on his stolen horse through the Fortress gates, and wanted to fight right away. Once the Hylians knew he was gone, the attack would surely follow. But his warriors feared for his health in his current condition.

He stood as the priestess wrapped the last bandage, reeking of a medicinal stench. Still, it was a better smell than what he had endured in the Temple of Shadows. "I want you to come with me to the Fortress, in the catacombs. There will be many more who need medical attention."

Once back at the Fortress, he approached his council of top warriors, who bowed upon his entrance. He brushed aside their inquiries of his heath and said, "There are Shekiah among the ranks of the Hylian Knights. I think it would be best if we hid the children, the elderly and the ill in the catacombs while the rest of us allow the invaders in, then ambush them."

The warriors nodded, but one asked, "If there are Shekiah present, how will we be able to detect them if they try to slip past our defenses?"

"I will go to the front lines," Ganondorf replied, "and use my sorcery to ferret them out. I've gotten a good feel for it while I was imprisoned in their Temple."

The little council exchanged glances. "But…my Lord," one spoke up. "We cannot risk you…"

He silenced her with a glance. "The sole purpose of a Gerudo King is to protect his people. If I die, the rest of you can still survive in hiding until another male is born. The tribe comes before all."

-&-

Zelda cried out in agony, her voice hoarse from all the tears. It was so easy to lose track of time in that place, and yet she could sense that as she sat there, alone in the dark, her faithful guard and lifelong friend was now being interred in the Royal Family's graveyard only yards away.

Surrounded by nobles and high-ranking guards, his casket was lowered into the ground in a place of honor. But how well could he rest as his murderer stood beside the King, ready to take the kingdom from its rightful heir, who sat trapped in the Shadow Temple despite his sacrifice? Would his ghost haunt her in that forsaken place, cursing her further for her folly?

She had tried many, many methods of escape, utilizing everything she knew about locks and prisons and Shekiah magic. But the shadow sorcery that bound her in her small cell was not something Impa had taught her. It felt…corrupted somehow, as if the treasonous splinter had developed its own unique power.

Footsteps. Zelda raised her head, her face stained with tears, dirt and blood after tearing her face with her fingernails. The door opened, and Ocine stepped in, flanked by two Shekiah.

Before she could greet him with any of her chosen insults, he demanded, "Where is the Ocarina of Time?"

She sneered, an odd expression that made a grotesque change in her face. "What makes you think I know, and if I did, why would I tell you?"

He scowled, staring through her with cold eyes. "Your faithful guard didn't have it on him. He must have hidden it somewhere."

Zelda made a barking laugh. "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. Why would I help you gain the Triforce?"

His expression changed to one of condescending pity, like that of a schoolteacher dealing with a painfully dim child. "Fool. You don't realize that I'm trying to help you, you and all of Hyrule. I understand the dangerous power the Triforce holds. I don't intend to claim it…I intend to destroy it!"

Zelda froze, the blood draining from her face, leaving the scratch marks bright red against ivory skin. "What blasphemy is this?"

Ocine snorted. "Idiot. Are you so blinded by your worship of the Goddesses that you do not see what a burden the Triforce is? It begs for people like the Desert King to steal it! It has nearly brought Hyrule to ruin many times, and only great sacrifices on the part of your people have been able to put things right again." He stepped closer to her, both pity and contempt on his face. "It makes Hyrule a very unstable neighbor. I decided a long time ago that I would find a way to obliterate the thing, for the benefit of all."

Zelda leaped up to attack him, but slammed into an invisible shield. Wiping her bloody nose, she snarled, "You are the fool, not I. The Triforce is the source of Hyrule's existence, not its ills. Destroy the Triforce and you destroy Hyrule as well!"

"I doubt that. Hyrule existed for a brief period before the Goddesses left the Triforce in the Sacred Realm. Don't you see? It was set there to tempt you, to test the will of men. Such a thing cannot be protected or ignored; it must be eliminated."

Zelda's eyes narrowed. "I see. It tempts you, and you cannot possess or control it, so you intend to destroy it." She eyed him purposefully. "I suppose I could not expect any more of you."

His eyes flashed, and a cruel smile split his lips. "Referring to yourself, my dear? I admit, at one time I had a certain level of desire for you. But I have no taste for fools, something I could sense the moment I saw you with the Desert King." He turned away, but stopped in the doorway. "Your faithful servant must have hidden the ocarina somewhere. As the new Prince, it won't take much for me to retrieve the rest of the materials from their keepers. All I have to do is ask. Once I find that ocarina, your kingdom will be safe…despite your best efforts to throw it into chaos."

-&-

Ganondorf sighed loudly, hissing through his teeth in impatience. He and his guards had stood ready at the Fortress gates for several days now, waiting tensely for a siege that never came. His people could only survive so long on stored food in the catacombs, and he felt sure the Hylians would attack after discovering he had escaped. So what was taking so long? He could not sense any Shekiah magic, and his warriors had not reported anything out of the ordinary.

Finally, he sent out a spy, a young woman with enough Hylian blood in her to pass for the daughter of one of the ranchers in Hyrule Field. He waited, nervously, for three days for her to gather intelligence and return, breathing a sigh of relief as he saw her ride back to the Fortress gates.

She looked troubled, but unhurried. "What news?" he demanded before she even dismounted from her horse.

"They are not mustering for war," the girl, Malia, replied. "but, my Lord, there are some strange rumors coming from the castle, which I cannot confirm."

"Well?" Ganondorf demanded.

"The King has been making some strange orders," Malia replied. "We're not sure if they come from him, or Ocine, which he has chosen as successor."

"Ocine as successor?" Ganondorf's eyes narrowed. "What about Zelda?"

"That's the strange thing, my Lord. There are rumors flying around that the Princess has gone mad, and has been confined to her chambers. But no one has seen her in weeks, and some claim that she is not even in the castle."

Ganondorf swayed slightly, but recovered quickly. "What do you mean, 'has gone mad'?"

"I honestly don't know, my Lord. The common folk don't seem to be paying much attention – they never do, unless something catastrophic happens – and I couldn't get very close to the nobles. They say Ocine is going to do something, something big, that will clear up any need to worry about you or anyone else who is a threat to the kingdom."

"Probably claim the Triforce," Ganondorf grunted. "Any other information you were able to get on the Princess?"

"No, my Lord. People seemed afraid to speak of it…I do not believe anyone knows for sure what has happened to her."

"I see," he said slowly. He stood in silence for several moments, then thanked Malia and headed back to his quarters.

"What should we do, my Lord?" Malia called after him.

"Keep watch as always," he replied. "I'll be out in a minute."

-&-

A couple of hours later, Ganondorf emerged – wrapped in a blanket of sorcery that made him appear to be a Hylian man, tall and with a deep tan but definitely different enough to waylay suspicion. "I need to gather further information," he told his council, "and I don't want to put anyone in danger. I'm strong enough now that I can keep up this disguise, and fight any Shekiah that I come across. After all," he said with a frown that puzzled them, "Link is dead. Unless Ocine gets the Triforce, I can't think of anyone would be able to best me in combat."

-&-

Ganondorf rode quickly through Hyrule Field, anxiety eating at his mind, kicking himself for what he had done. Was Zelda in danger now because he had not taken her with him? Had she been foolish enough to tell her captors that she had freed him? He had not seen any real change in the kingdom yet, which told him that Ocine had not opened the doors to the Sacred Realm. Link had been entrusted with the key that opened those doors. But Link had been dead for several days now. He must have hidden his key somewhere…

Ganondorf prayed to the Goddesses that the young warrior had a good hiding place.